Touraine-Amboise () is an ''
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...
'' (AOC) in the
Loire Valley wine region in France. It is situated within the wider
Touraine AOC
Touraine () is an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) in the Loire Valley wine region in France that produce dry white wines and red wines rich in tannins. The AOC status was awarded by a decree of December 24, 1939 (modified by the decr ...
wine appellation. It is produced by ten communes bordering both sides of the
River Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...
. To their west lies the town of
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...
, with its
royal château. Since its separation from the Touraine AOC in 1954, Touraine-Amboise has constituted an AOC in its own right. Annual production stands at 9,000 hectolitres of wine, spread between red, rosé, and still white wines. Effervescent wines are also produced within this AOC's boundaries, but they are not entitled to use the Touraine-Amboise appellation, belonging instead to the Touraine appellation.
History
Prehistory and antiquity

There is evidence that people were living on the sloping hillsides of this middle stretch of the Loire as early as
palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
and
neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
times. The Châtelliers plateau, on the edge of which the Château of Amboise is built, contains one of the Loire region's most important
Chasséen neolithic sites. An
axe
An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...
made with local stone and a
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...
made with stone from the
Grand-Pressigny region, have been discovered to the west of the market town of Limeray. Significant permanent settlements seem to have grown up at the start of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
(approximately 5,000 years BC), while large-scale planting of the valleys dates from the final period of the Bronze Age, between 1,200 and 750 BC. At that time, following the last glacial period, vines already existed in their wild state as a kind of creeper growing on the edges of forests and on stony soils, but wine-making was as yet undiscovered.
In the first century AD the geographer,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
(23–79 AD), described
wine-growing in
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
as well-developed, but made no specific mention of wines produced along the banks of the Loire. Whereas the
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
wine-growing area dates back to the Roman occupation, popular tradition links the start of vine cultivation in the province of
Touraine
Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...
(in the middle section of the Loire's course) to the founding of
Marmoutier Abbey by
St Martin in 372 AD.
The fall of the Roman empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...
, and the turbulent centuries of the
early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
that followed, interrupted the development of wine production, and the use of wine was restricted to religious practices and medical applications, in both cases dispensed by monasteries. This was documented by
Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.
Life
Almost all that we know of Se ...
, writing about meals at Marmoutier Abbey at the end of the 4th century: "Everyone gathered to break the fast and eat together; there was no wine provided except when illness demanded it". Several legends about the effects of drinking wine or pruning vines are linked to St Martin of Tours.
Middle Ages

No information is available regarding wine-growing or wine production in the area directly around Amboise during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. One can only make deductions from what is known of the wine-growing history of the region, and assume that local circumstances would not have differed greatly.
In the High Middle Ages, the oldest record seems to be that of
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
who described the damage caused to the vines by bad weather in the spring of 587. He refers on several occasions to vines growing near to the
Basilica of St Martin of Tours. At the time the Basilica owned the villa at
Nazelles close to Amboise, but there is no way of ascertaining whether the latter was planted with vines at that period.
From the 11th century onwards the majority of monasteries and abbeys strung out along the banks of the
Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...
were involved in wine-growing, taking full advantage of the opportunity for transporting wine by river. A text dating from this time describes how a cleric from
Chinon
Chinon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France.
The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginn ...
used this mode of transport to take his wine to
Nantes
Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
.
[Issue de ''La vie et les miracles de saint Mexme'' XIe, cité dans ''Les vins de Loire'', Éditions Montalba, 1979, p. 31]
Renaissance
The popularity of Touraine wines was due in no small part to the earthy writings of the French author,
Rabelais, and his panegyric, "The Divine Bottle":
Amboise wines were especially enjoyed by the French king,
Louis XI
Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...
, who published a
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
stipulating that Amboise wines should be sold before all other wines at the market in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
. In 1477 he also introduced an annual gift of one hundred muids (one muid equalled eight French cubic feet) of wine to the monks of
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
Church. Touraine wine was also routinely served at the table of the French king,
François I
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis& ...
, who was apparently moved to comment: "Even though I was not born in Amboise, I grew up there, and all my life the taste of that divine draft from the beautiful city of
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
, so dear to my heart, has remained with me".
File:Francois Rabelais - Portrait.jpg, François Rabelais
File:Louis XI of France.jpg, Louis XI of France
File:Canterburycathedrale.JPG, Canterbury Cathedral
File:François Ier Louvre.jpg, François I of France
Modern period

Two main factors contributed to the growth of Touraine wines between the 16th and 19th century. The first was a decree issued by the Paris parliament on 14 August 1577, forbidding Paris wine merchants to obtain their supplies from anywhere within twenty
leagues[Avant 1674, il s'agissait de l'ancienne lieue de Paris, d'une longueur de mètres, soit une distance d'environ 65 km.] of the city.
[Interdiction annulée en 1776 par un édit royal.] Since the
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...
was easily accessible by road from the capital, demand rapidly increased firstly in the province of
Orléanais
The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former province of France, which was created during the Renaissance by merging four former counties and towns. However after the French Revolution, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départ ...
, then in the province of Touraine. The second factor was the popularity of the Loire Valley's white wines with
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
buyers. The latter installed agents, charged with overseeing their imports at close quarters, in several
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...
trading posts, including
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...
.
To all intents and purposes, the Dutch agents were middle-men, stocking and selling on French wines to the whole world and making a considerable profit in the process.
Colbert (Louis XIV's finance minister) attempted to break their monopoly by creating a trading company that could deal directly with the markets. The Dutch retaliated by levying a heavy surcharge on various French manufactured articles, as well as French brandy and wine. Exports slowed down, with the regrettable result that the focus of production shifted from quality to quantity. A further undesirable effect was that cereal crops were often abandoned in favour of wine-growing, regardless of the land's suitability.
Contemporary history
At the start of the 19th century wine-growing became one of the mainstays of the local economy. For this reason the devastation caused by the dual scourge of
mildew
Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mold, largely by its colour: molds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consisti ...
and
phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...
that hit the region in 1882 came as a particularly heavy blow. The extent of the damage was even greater because the wine-growers initially refused to pull up their vines, trying instead to treat them with
carbon disulfide
Carbon disulfide (also spelled as carbon disulphide) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula and structure . It is also considered as the anhydride of thiocarbonic acid. It is a colorless, flammable, neurotoxic liquid that is used as ...
, though without success.
:"As far as the phylloxera is concerned, the wine-growers were wrong, at the start, not to fight it.''They allowed it to get completely out of hand. '' ''Nevertheless the wine-growers' unions have succeeded at many levels in keeping production at full capacity. '' ''In the Touraine area, however, there is no such flurry of activity. '' ''In his report to the General Council of the department of Indre-et-Loire, the Prefet (official in charge of a French department) does not even mention the situation. '' ''The general reaction is one of complete indifference. The local temperament militates against any attempt to take effective action, and at the same time political animosities are distracting everyone from the true problems of this region. However, the Touraine wine-growing area has already lost many vines and there are frequent cases of vines being pulled up''.
[En fait près de la moitié des vignes seront arrachées] A vast fortune is disappearing".
[There is, however, a vine in the Touraine region, planted around 1850 and rediscovered in 1998, that successfully resisted phylloxera and is now probably the oldest vine in France.]
Following the introduction of new grape varieties, grafted onto American rootstocks, the vineyards were built up again between 1901 and 1905. In spite of these measures, the decline continued with a series of crises caused firstly by the collapse of stock market prices in 1906–1907, then by over-production in 1922–1923. It was only after the Second World War that the tide began to turn, thanks to improvements in quality due to the use of "noble" grape varieties, and increased demand for quality effervescent wines as an alternative to
Champagne
Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
. The growth of tourism was also a crucial in boosting sales of the wine produced.
;Award of AOC status
In 1954, the wine-growing area located around the
Château d'Amboise
The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was ex ...
, which was originally classed as part of the "Coteaux-de-Touraine"
AOC by the decree passed on 24 December 1939, was granted its own appellation of Touraine-Amboise. The new appellation originally covered nine communes in the department of
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.[Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...]
(
Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...
,
Chargé and
Mosnes) and six on the right bank (
Cangey,
Limeray
Limeray () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
The com ...
,
Pocé-sur-Cisse
Pocé-sur-Cisse (, literally ''Pocé on Cisse (river), Cisse'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France, department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
Referen ...
,
Nazelles-Négron
Nazelles-Négron () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
The commune was formed in 1971 by the merger of Nazelles and Négron. Population data before 1971 refer to the former commune of Nazelles.
See al ...
,
Saint-Ouen-les-Vignes and
Montreuil-en-Touraine). The commune of
Saint-Règle
Saint-Règle () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
Th ...
(on the left bank) was added to the appellation by the decree of 2 August 2005. In 1967 the Commanderie des Grands Vins d'Amboise (the Order of the Great Wines of Amboise) was established to ensure that the wines were well promoted.
Etymology
The etymological origins of the Touraine-Amboise appellation are relatively self-explanatory. It is made up of the name of the former province of
Touraine
Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...
(which derived its name from its Gallic inhabitants, the
Turones
The Turoni or Turones were a Gallic tribe of dwelling in the later Touraine region during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
They were among the first tribes to give support to the Gallic coalition against Rome led by Vercingetorix in 52 BC, the ...
[Selon certaines sources, l'oppidum d'Amboise pourrait même avoir été la cité d'origine des Turones]), combined with the name of the town of Amboise, the most famous of the appellation's constituent communes.
Geographical location
Orography
The territory of the communes of the Touraine-Amboise AOC consists primarily of a
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
that lies between 105 and 130 metres above sea level. This is divided in two by the wide valley of the Loire, which lies, on average, at about 55 metres above sea level and is bordered on either side by often steeply sloping hillsides.
[[Notice de la carte géologique d']Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...
(XIX-22) publiée par le Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières
Geology

The wide valley of the Loire is made up of a mixture of
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
and
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...
that is carried along by the river.
The slopes on either side are made up of a mixture of
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
s and other elements that have come down from the plateau areas. The wine-growing area is mainly located on the two-halves of the plateau and, occasionally, on the upper slopes to either side of the valley. The plateau areas are covered in a thin layer of clay-sand silt that has been deposited there by the wind. Beneath this silt lies a polygenetic
puddingstone dating from the Upper
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
Age, mixed with varicoloured clays and small pebbles of rolled
silex
Separation of isotopes by laser excitation (SILEX) is a process for enriching uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that may also present a growing nuclear weapons proliferation risk. It is strongly suspected that SILEX utilizes laser condensation repre ...
,
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
chert
Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
s and
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
grains. The soils of this wine-growing
terroir
(; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
can be carbonate, overlying tuffeau stone on the higher slopes, or, more frequently, silicate and fairly heavy, overlying sands and clay gravels.
Climate
The Touraine wine-growing area is located at a point where
marine and
continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne
* Continen ...
influences meet. A series of east–west facing
valleys
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...
, where the continental influence is less harsh, present ideal conditions for the creation of
microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
s that are especially favourable to wine-growing.
The nearest
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
with readings that can be accessed is in
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
.

Possible consequences of global warming
According to the conclusions of two studies published in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
(one of which was conducted by the
Colmar
Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...
branch of l'
INRA ( or French National Institute for Agricultural Research) on the consequences of
global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
for wine-growing, the
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...
wine-growing area should be one of the prime beneficiaries of the gradual increase in temperatures. Basing their calculations on
Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
auction statistics, these studies suggest that in the last ten years the optimum temperature for producing quality wine has already been reached in most French wine-growing areas, but that there is a margin for potential improvement of about 0.8 °C along the banks of the Loire. If these conclusions are right, the wines of this region could, in fact, reach their peak without the need for any changes in the grape varieties grown.
Wine-growing area
Profile
The wine-growing area, which is located in the department of
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.[Amboise
Amboise (; ) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Today a small market town, it was once home to the French royal court.
Geography
Amboise lies on the banks of the river Loire, east of Tours. It is also about awa ...]
,
Chargé,
Mosnes,
Cangey,
Limeray
Limeray () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
The com ...
,
Pocé-sur-Cisse
Pocé-sur-Cisse (, literally ''Pocé on Cisse (river), Cisse'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France, department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
Referen ...
,
Nazelles-Négron
Nazelles-Négron () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
The commune was formed in 1971 by the merger of Nazelles and Négron. Population data before 1971 refer to the former commune of Nazelles.
See al ...
,
Saint-Ouen-les-Vignes,
Montreuil-en-Touraine and
Saint-Règle
Saint-Règle () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
Th ...
.
It extends over and produces 9,000 hectolitres a year, of which 60% goes into red wines, 30% into rosé wines and 10% into white wines.
Grape varieties grown
* Red and rosé wines: a blend of
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
, known locally as "Breton",
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...
,
[Cabernet Sauvignon is tolerated until the 2010 harvest in a proportion of up to 10%] Côt
Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...
and
Gamay
Gamay () is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire_Valley_(wine), Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as lon ...
noir. The Cuvée François 1er (François I vintage) is a wine that can only be produced by the wine-growers of the Touraine-Amboise AOC. It is a blend of Gamay, Cabernet and Côt grape varieties.
[
* Whites wines, still and effervescent (traditional method): ]Chenin blanc
Chenin blanc (, ; known also as Pineau de la Loire among #Synonyms, other names) is a white wine grape variety from the Loire Valley (wine), Loire Valley of France (wine), France. Its high acidity (wine), acidity means it can be used to make var ...
, known locally as "Pineau de la Loire".
* Crémants de Loire (sparking wines produced using traditional methods): a blend of Chenin blanc and Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
with the addition of small amounts of Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
and Pinot noir
Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
.
File:Cabernet Franc Weinsberg 20060909.jpg, Cabernet Franc
File:Cabernet Sauvignon Gaillac.jpg, Cabernet Sauvignon
File:Malbec grapes.jpg, Côt
File:Gamay.jpg, Gamay
File:Chenin blanc grapes.jpg, Chenin blanc
File:Chardonnay Moldova.JPG, Chardonnay
File:Pinot noir Grappe de raisin.jpg, Pinot noir
Cultivation methods
Planting
The density of planting must be at least 4,500 vines per hectare, the maximum distance between rows being 2.1 metres. The bottom wire of the trellis must be no more than 0.55 metres above the ground. The AOC status only applies to wines produced from the harvest gathered two years after the year in which the vines were planted (before 31 August).
Pruning
Pruning generally takes place once the leaves have fallen in November, and continues throughout the winter months. Mechanized pre-pruning is carried out first, using a high-clearance tractor, and this cuts the time spent pruning manually by about a quarter. The following pruning methods are permitted:
* The so-called "Guyot simple" or "Single Guyot" pruning: a single cane with five to eight buds and a single spur with one to three buds, the maximum total of renewal buds allowed per vine being eleven;
* The Taille à trois bras or Three-armed pruning: a long branch with a maximum of seven renewal buds, and spurs, each with a maximum of three renewal buds, totalling no more than eleven renewal buds per vine.
* The Taille courte or Short pruning: spurs bearing a maximum of three renewal buds and one optional spur bearing four renewal buds, the total number of renewal buds allowed per vine being no more than thirteen.
The numbers of buds stipulated above apply to vines spaced up to one metre apart within the row. The number of buds per vine may be increased by one renewal bud for every 0.2 metres of additional spacing.
Pruning has become less strenuous and time-consuming since the introduction of electric and pneumatic secateurs
Pruning shears, also called hand pruners (in American English) or secateurs (in British English), are a type of scissors used for plants. They are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to two centimetres thick. T ...
. The cuttings produced by pruning are shredded to form a mulch or burnt in situ. Pruning and trellising are the only tasks that wine-growers still carry out completely by hand.
Cultivation
The work of cultivation falls into two main categories:
* Mechanized operations, such as ploughing, which aerates the soil and helps to keep down the weeds, and hedging, which removes the upper sections of the shoots in order to increase the vines' exposure to the sun and make them less susceptible to disease.
* Chemical treatments, using pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...
s and herbicide
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...
s, in order to protect the vines against cryptogamic diseases such as mildew
Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mold, largely by its colour: molds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consisti ...
, oidium, grey rot, etc., and against insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s such as the Eudemis and the Cochylis
''Cochylis'' is a genus of moths belonging to the subfamily Tortricinae of the family Tortricidae.
As a result of phylogenetic analysis, the species ''Cochylichroa arthuri, Cochylis arthuri'', ''Cochylichroa atricapitana, C. atricapitana'', ''Co ...
. Every effort is made to minimize the environmental effects of these procedures.
File:Mildew-back.JPG, Mildew
File:UncinulaNecatorOnGrapes.jpg, Oidium
Harvesting
The harvest usually begins in the second week of September and continues through to the first weeks of October. Over the last fifteen years or so, the use of mechanized harvesters has become increasingly common, especially since virtually all the wine-growing area lies on level ground. As a result, manual harvesting has virtually died out.
Wine-making and maturing
The following are the usual wine-making methods employed. However, it should be remembered that there can be slight variations in the methods used by individual wine-makers within the AOC.
= Red wine-making
=
The grapes are harvest
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
ed, either manually or by machine, when they are fully ripe. Sometimes grapes that have been harvested manually are sorted, either on the vines or at a sorting table on the wine-maker's premises, to ensure that rotten or insufficiently ripe grapes are removed.[''Conduite et gestion de l'exploitation agricole'', cours de viticulture du lycée viticole de Beaune (1999–2001). Baccalauréat professionnel option viticulture-oenologie.] Grapes that have been harvested manually are usually crushed, then transferred to a tank. Pre-fermentation cold maceration is sometimes carried out. Alcoholic fermentation
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this ...
can then begin, normally after the addition of yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
. The next stage is the extraction of polyphenols
Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring phenols. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of which have been used historically as ...
(tannins
Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widely applied to any large po ...
and anthocyanins
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart named a chemical compound that gives flow ...
) and other chemical constituents of the grapes. In the past this was carried out by a process called pigeage
Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. There is ...
, which involved repeatedly pushing the floating cap of grape solids back down into the fermenting juice. Now, however, extraction is normally brought about by a series of remontages. This involves pumping the juice from the bottom of the tank, then pouring it over the cap of grape solids to wash out the grapes' distinctive constituents. The temperature for alcoholic fermentation can be varied, but the normal average temperature at the height of fermentation is between 28 and 35 degrees Celsius. If the naturally generated temperature is too low, chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not i ...
may be carried out. This practice is subject to external regulations. Once alcoholic fermentation has finished, the liquid is removed from the tank and separated into free-run wine and press wine. Malolactic fermentation
Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which Tart (flavor), tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation ...
may take place next, but is dependent on temperature. The wine is drawn off and stored in barrels or vats to be matured. The maturing process takes several months (six to twenty-four months), after which the wine is fined, filtered and bottled.
=Rosé wine-making
=
Harvesting
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
is manual or mechanized. Two different methods may be used, either the direct pressing method (to produce a pressed rosé wine) or the method whereby the harvested red grapes are put in a tank and red wine maceration begins, but some of the juice is then bled off (to produce a bled rosé wine). Alcoholic fermentation
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this ...
takes place in tanks, as for white wine, and temperatures, chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not i ...
, etc. are carefully controlled. This is followed by malolactic fermentation
Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which Tart (flavor), tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation ...
. The wine is matured in vats, or sometimes in barrels. Lastly, the wine is filtered and bottled.
= White wine-making
=
As with red wine-making, harvesting is manual or mechanized, and may include sorting. The grapes are then transferred into a press to be pressed. Once the grape must is in the tank, the sludge is removed, normally after certain enzymes have been added. At this stage pre-fermentation cold stabulation (at temperatures between 10 and 12 °C for several days) may be carried out in order to promote the extraction of aromas. Normally, however, after 12 to 48 hours, the clear juice is drawn off and left to ferment. Alcoholic fermentation
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this ...
continues under supervision, particular attention being paid to the temperature, which must remain more or less stable (between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius). If necessary, chaptalization is also carried out in order to boost the alcoholic strength by volume. Malolactic fermentation
Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which Tart (flavor), tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation ...
and maturing then take place in barrels or in vats. Once this process is completed, the wine is filtered in order to clarify it. The final stage of the whole operation is the bottling of the wine.
Yields
The minimum and maximum yields for the AOC, stipulated by the decree of 12 July 1994, are as follows:
Minimum and maximum alcoholic strength by volume
The Touraine-Amboise AOC wines must come from well-ripened grape harvests and must have the following natural alcoholic strengths by volume:
The upper limit may be exceeded, provided the wine has been made without enrichment of any kind, and provided an investigation by the INAO has been requested by the wine-grower, carried out and filed prior to the harvesting of the vines in question. These limits may be adjusted in line with changing climate conditions.
Even when enrichment with dry sugar (chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not i ...
) has been authorized, a maximum total alcoholic strength by volume of 12.5% may not be exceeded.
Sugar content
The Touraine-Amboise AOC wines cannot be considered properly matured if their sugar content is less than 153 grams per litre of must. For sparkling white wines the amount should be 136 grams per litre of must.
Terroir and wines
The soil is made up of alternating and soils,[Touraine Amboise -AOC par décret du 24 décembre 1939](_blank)
, sur ''www.vinsdeloire.fr'', consulté le 3 décembre 2009. as they are called in French. are clays combined with silica, which warm up quickly and are the reason why these wines have a flinty taste. are a mixture of permeable, fertile, calcareous clays, which give the wine its powerful character and are perfectly suited to white grape varieties.
Business structure
One of the features of this AOC is the large number of small family concerns, despite the gradual disappearance of very small plots farmed by retired people or those in paid employment, for whom wine production was only a means of supplementing their main income.
Type of wine and gastronomy
Types of wines
* The red wines are fruity and balanced with depth of colour. They should be served at between 14 °C and 16 °C and can be used as an accompaniment to game, meats and cheeses. They can be kept on average for 2 to 5 years, longer for batches that have been aged in oak barrels.
* The rosé wines come from the same grape varieties as the red wines, but have a shorter maceration period and are bottled very much sooner. They have aromas of small red fruits, and should be served at between 10 °C and 12 °C. They complement starters and grilled meats.
* The still white wines are either dry, medium dry, or medium sweet, depending on the amount of sunshine the grapes have absorbed. They have a supple, sometimes dense taste, with fresh fruit and citrus aromas. The dry wines should be served at 10 °C with fish and seafood, while the medium dry wines are better suited to fish prepared with a sauce or to cooked and cured meats. The medium sweet wines go particularly well with foie gras and desserts. Alternatively they can be served as an aperitif. On average they can be kept for between 2 and 5 years.
;Touraine AOC wines
* The effervescent wines carry the double designation of "Méthode Traditionnelle
The traditional method for producing sparkling wine is the process used in the Champagne region of France to produce Champagne. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called "Champagne"), in Spain t ...
" (produced by traditional methods), which means that they are very fruity and ideal for the preparation of kirs, and "Crémant de Loire
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne r ...
" (or sparkling wine from the Loire region) which makes them the ideal way to end a meal.
Marketing
Marketing is largely carried out directly by the wine-growers from their wine cellars that are usually hollowed out of the local tuffeau
Tuffeau stone — in French, simply ''tuffeau'' or ''tufeau'' — is a local limestone of the Loire Valley of France. It is characterized as a chalky or sandy, fine-grained limestone, white to yellowish-cream in appearance, and micaceous (conta ...
rock, and by the Cellier Léonard de Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci Wine Cellar) in Limeray
Limeray () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
The com ...
, a winemaking cooperative
A winemaking cooperative is an agricultural cooperative which is involved in winemaking, and which in a similar way to other cooperatives is owned by its members. The members in a winemaking cooperative are usually vineyard owners, who deliver gra ...
set up in 1931 by Charles Bellamy and some local wine-growers under the name "Cave des vignerons de Limeray" (Limeray Wine-growers Cellar), and renamed in 1995. Customer sales are managed by the ''Caveau des vignerons d'Amboise'' (Amboise Wine-growers Vault), located immediately below the Château of Amboise
A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...
, as well as by various shops in Amboise and the surrounding towns.
Wine fairs are organized on a regular basis at Easter and in the week of 15 August (the Feast of the Assumption is a public holiday in France), and are held in a tunnel dug out of the tuffeau rock beneath the Château of Amboise.
The first or second Sunday of July is reserved for a gourmet walk of about 5 km around the vineyards of the village of Limeray. The walk is in aid of humanitarian causes and is organized with the help of the Lions Club of Amboise les Deux Vallées. This gives the wine-growers, in conjunction with the Commanderie des Grans Vins d'Amboise (the Order of the Great Wines of Amboise) and the region's gastronomical guilds, an opportunity to showcase local wines and other specialities from the Touraine region.Renseignements sur la promenade gourmande de Limeray :
/ref>
The Order of the Great Wines of Amboise
(the Order of the Great Wines of Amboise) is a guild for the promotion of fine wines founded on 15 April 1967 by a team of wine-growers who were backed by Michel Debré
Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 ...
, honorary president of the (Touraine-Amboise wine-growers' union).
The Order derives its name from an order of the Hospitaller Knights of St John of Jerusalem,[Elle avait pour nom exact « Commanderie de Saint-Jean de l'Isle-lès-Amboise »] who were based on the [Anciennement appelée île saint-Jean du fait de la présence de cette commanderie] (Island of Gold), at the foot of the Château of Amboise
A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...
, during the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. The Order has as its motto (mediaeval French for "Our kings loved it"), a reference to Louis XI's charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
decreeing that Amboise wine should be sold before all other kinds at the market in Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
. The order's purpose is to promote wines from the Touraine-Amboise appellation area in Europe and throughout the world.
Under the terms of a ministerial order issued on 11 August 200
the Order is one of ten French guilds for the promotion of fine wines that are authorized to confer competition prize-winning honours, in this case "Bacchus d'Or" (Golden Bacchus), on still wines.
Traditionally the Order holds two chapter meetings each year:
* The rotating chapter in honour of Vincent of Saragossa, St Vincent, patron saint of wine-growers, which moves between each of the ten communes of the appellation in turn. At this chapter meeting the most long-standing and most well-deserving wine-growers in the village are honoured.
* The harvest chapter meeting, held in the Croix-Douillard wine cellars in Amboise, at which wine-growers can be enthroned at their own request.
Touraine-Amboise wines in French literature
The writer of regional literature, Robert Morin (1893–1925) was the author of ('Mélie the Basket Carrier'), which was published posthumously in 1926. In the 1920s Morin lived in the Ménard manor house at Pocé-sur-Cisse
Pocé-sur-Cisse (, literally ''Pocé on Cisse (river), Cisse'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France, department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
Referen ...
. His heroine, Mélie, lived halfway up a hillside in a cave dwelling between the hamlets of Fourchette and Moncé in Limeray
Limeray () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
The com ...
, right in the heart of the present AOC wine-growing area. Her job was to carry the soil washed down the hillsides by the rain back up the slopes again, earthing up the base of each vine. The small basket she used was known locally as a , and is the root of the word (basket carrier), Mélie's job title. By depicting a few brief scenes from her existence, the author painted a vivid picture of the lives and characterful speech of the local wine-growing community in the early 20th century.
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Information on the AOC Touraine Amboise
Commanderie des Grands Vins d'Amboise
Wine Cellar d'Amboise
Wines in the town of Amboise
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118091222/http://www.ville-amboise.fr/descriptionStructure.php?id=473&domaine=3&famille=79&theme=&activite= , date=18 November 2008
Loire AOCs
Indre-et-Loire